Jacob deGrom dazzled for six innings on Friday night against the Padres, but his night came to an end after just 80 pitches.
The Mets later announced that deGrom was pulled from the game due to right flexor tendonitis.
But after the game, deGrom gave an optimistic outlook about the injury, saying he believes he could end up not missing any time.
“I felt it this week in-between. I’m not too concerned about it because it didn’t get much worse as the game went on,” deGrom said. “But there in … the sixth inning when I was trying to loosen up, I could feel it and it was starting to tighten up a little bit.
“I’ve had a couple elbow issues before and I know what that feels like, so my level of concern is not too high. I’m pretty optimistic about it and I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be something that we can treat and hopefully not miss any time.”
The Mets’ ace struck out 10 batters on Friday night while allowing just one hit, a groundball single from Wil Myers. He lowered his season ERA to just 0.56 in the process.
DeGrom has already spent time on the IL this season due to right side tightness, but he remained confident that this latest ailment is something that can be treated without having to miss time on the mound.
“We did all the ligament tests, and all that checks out,” deGrom said. “Like I said, I know how that feels. I tried to pitch with a partially torn ligament when I first got drafted and I know how that feels and this didn’t feel anything like that, so I’m pretty optimistic about where we’re at.
“I’m pretty optimistic that I’ll be out there in five days.”